Josh Rouse

Like a baseball player who quietly hits 30 home runs every year or a golfer who regularly finishes in the Top Ten, Josh Rouses continued streak of excellence is easy to ignore and maybe even downplay a little. Tim Sendra, Allmusic.com

You do not have to work hard to enjoy Rouses music. His songs present themselves to you with an open heart, an innate intelligence and an absolute lack of pretension. They are clear eyed, empathetic and penetrating. Without pandering, they seek to satisfy both your ear and your understanding. The verses draw you in with telling detail, both musical and thematic, and the choruses lift and deliver. They resolve without seeming overly tidy or pat.

Josh Rouse was born in Nebraska, and following an itinerant upbringing he eventually landed in Nashville where he recorded his debut Dressed Like Nebraska (1998). The albums acclaim led to tours with Aimee Mann, Mark Etzel and the late Vic Chestnut. The followup Home (2000) yielded the song Directions which Cameron Crowe used in his film Vanilla Sky.

Every time I have made a record, I tried to make it different from the last one, says Rouse. I always became fascinated by a different style of music. But at the end of the day, no matter how eclectic I try to make it, it is my voice and melodic sensibility that tie things together.

For his breakthrough album, 1972 (2003), which happens to be the year he was born, Rouse decided to cheer up a bit. Noting that he had earned a reputation for melancholy, he says, with a laugh, I figured this is my career, I might as well try to enjoy it. While the Seventies are often identified with singer songwriters, Rouse was primarily attracted to the warmer sound of albums back then, as well as the more communal feel of the soul music of that time. The follow up, Nashville (2005) continued the hot streak and expanded his audience further.

After relocating to Valencia, Spain with his wife Paz, Rouse has released a steady stream of high quality songs and albums. Subtitulo (2006) contained the international indie folk hit Quiet Town. On El Turista (2010) he even experimented with writing and singing some songs in Spanish. In 2014, he won a Goya Award (the Spanish equivalent of an Oscar) for best song for Do You Really Want To Be In Love, from the film La Gran Familia Espanola.

The Embers of Time, was one of his strongest, self described as my surreal, ex pat, therapy record. He followed that up with Love In the Modern Age, which took its musical inspiration from the thinking mans pop of the eighties: The Blue Nile, Prefab Sprout and the Style Council. And in 2019 he tackled the Christmas album on The Holiday Sounds of Josh Rouse but instead of well worn carols or classics, he wrote an entire record of original holiday themed pop songs.

In 2021 Josh released The Mediterranean Gardener about which he says: I have a new project that goes by the name of ISLA. Breezy, improvised electronica, composed by yours truly, mostly while in confinement. A stress free atmosphere for all! Vamos!